Germany vs South Korea was supposed to be a mission statement for Germany to show that they’ve well and truly arrived at the World Cup. Only that it wasn’t. What an amazing turn of events!
It has long been a tradition for World Cup winners and reigning champions to perform poorly and get eliminated in the group stage of the next edition of the World Cup.
France did so in 2002 (1998 winners), Italy in 2010 (2006 winners), Spain in 2014 (2010 winners) and Germany have continued the tradition, after winning the World Cup in 2014.
But here’s the thing: This German side looked arguably the best in Europe and we’re talking about a team who won the World Cup and the Confederations Cup in 2017. That makes the gravity of this upset even bigger.
South Korea did what was virtually impossible and defeated the German giants 2-0, effectively cementing the claim that this year’s World Cup is the tournament of surprises.
Now, turning our attention to Germany Vs South Korea and what actually happened in the match:
It all started in rather mundane fashion, as Germany weren’t able to create any decent chances on goal in the opening half but continued to knock on South Korea’s door with some half-decent passes, only missing a goal to show something for their dominance.
Timo Werner has looked out of sorts for Germany in the World Cup so far and Germany vs South Korea proved no different for him, as he registered yet another goal-less outing with Thomas Mueller straying on the bench.
The German midfield, consisting of arguably the world’s best midfielder Toni Kroos, Sami Khedira and Mesut Ozil looked uninspired and lethargic, as if they just wanted to soak up the pressure and prevent South Korea from exploiting any opportunities on the break.
As for South Korea, they played as if they had nothing to lose and continued to look for scoring opportunities deep into the 2nd half and it wasn’t until the 90th minute that they were rewarded for their persistence.
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The goal scored by Kim Young-gwon was initially ruled offside but after checking the replay using VAR, it was ruled that the final pass came from German’s Toni Kroos and the goal was allowed, effectively putting South Koreans ahead and spelling a shambolic result for the Germans.
The 2nd goal was an even bigger comedy of errors, as German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer was caught way off of his line in the opponent’s half and a long ball to Korea’s and Tottenham’s lethal forward Son Heung-min saw him simply roll the ball into an empty net, making it 2-0 and sparking celebrations all across the stadium among the Korean fans.
Social media let its horses loose as well, as Germany’s coach Joachim Löw was trolled after the match and criticised again for not selecting the brilliant Leroy Sane and Mario Gotze in his 23-man World Cup squad and instead opting for an unreliable and relatively old midfield.
Thomas Mueller being benched was reviewed as another controversial decision for this match and the Germans missed his presence to sniff out goals, as they missed header after header in the later stages of the match from good crosses.
Be that as it may, Germany vs South Korea proved to be a treat for the neutral fans and has now paved the way for Sweden to qualify into the Round Of 16 after their brilliant 3-0 victory against Mexico.
We are ready for a new champion.
The World Cup is well and truly here!
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: New York Times, The Guardian, CBS Sports + more
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